Elsewhere in Konoha, Another Generation
by breathofdreams
Summary: Well, we all know what Naruto and his friends get up to, but what about everyone else? A story not centered on the cannon characters, but on a few members of this year’s genin class, including Kouji and Kouichi! Progress has stopped on this story.
1. Chapter 1

OOC: I do not own Naruto in any way, shape or form. Nor do I own Kouji or Kouichi. The only things that are mine are the characters that I've made up to write about. This chapter is dedicated to my good friend Kathleen, who was an awesome editor for me. Thanks Kathleen!

Chapter 1, Graduation

"So. You're back, it says here you were gone for over three years," Konoha's new Hokage riffled through the pages on her desk. "That would make you a missing nin you know," she informed the young man standing in front of her desk. He nodded solemnly, then spoke.

"I'm a Panthara. Sarutoubi-sama had an exception for members of my family, because of the bloodline," he causally reached into the pile of papers, his dark gold eyes searching. "Here," he tugged the page out from the middle of the stack, coolly handing it to her over the desk. She frowned as she skimmed through it.

"I see," she murmured. "Most unusual, I'm guessing you're the inheritor of the double…"

"Yes," he said shortly.

"Very well then. Your status as a Konoha jounin will be registered later-" Tsunade was cut short as her assistant cleared her throat meaningfully. "- today," she added.

With a curt nod, the dark young man turned to go. "Ah, but there is one more thing…" the fair-haired woman picked up a list of names. "Our class numbers were a bit skewed, due to the disturbances earlier this year regarding our chunin exam. You know…we do need one more jounin, one who doesn't already have duties, to take on our last student-"

"No." his eyes darkened slightly.

"It's only one student, and you're going to take him."

"No. I don't want any mewling little guttersnipes to baby-sit."

"If you don't take a student, I'll have you arrested as a missing nin."

"If I have to take one, then give me my sis-"

"NO! She has already been assigned."

"I'm _not_ a nursemaid."

"You're taking himand that's final!" Tsunade declared.

)( - )(

"Malao, I'm gonna kill you as soon as this wears off," the woman croaked from her bed. Her companion grinned sheepishly, rubbing his head.

"In all honesty, Yuki-chan, you shouldn't be this hung over, you only had three drinks last night," the man handed silver-haired jounin a cup of coffee, "This oughta help."

"And in all honesty, I'm never doing this again; lousiest birthday I've ever had," she groaned, accepting the mug.

"Actually, you seemed to be enjoying it last night. Whoops!" he giggled, dodging the poorly thrown pillow. "I'll just leave you to recover then," he said, skipping out the door. He had to collect his team, his first team as a jounin. He'd have to get Yuki's too though, it was kind of his fault she was so out this morning. He did feel somewhat bad about that, he'd only been trying to give his friend a happy birthday. She always got depressed about the day, since it was not only the anniversary of her birth and graduation, but also of her mother's death. He could respect that, but still, it wasn't everyday one turned twenty-one.

The man blinked in mild surprise to see a dark figure waiting for him at the corner.

"You got your status back then," he said more than asked his former teammate. The younger man nodded.

"Actually, I have a favor to ask…"

)( - )(

The newly graduated genin chattered excitedly to one another as a chunin watched to make sure they behaved until their teacher arrived with the team assignments. Ever since the Chunin exams earlier that year, everyone had been overworked, but that didn't stop the newest chunin from complaining to himself about the extra work. Still, at least he didn't have to teach them anything, all he had to do was stand up here and make sure…

"What are you doing? Put that knife down!" he yelled.

The boy ignored him, proceeding to slide it over and over in his hands. Sighing with exasperation, the youth walked up the row to where the genin sat, alone for obvious reasons, and held out a hand.

"Give me the knife, Kuromei," he sighed. The boy glared at him, then deliberately cut his left forefinger open, splitting it neatly from tip to palm.

"Nara-san," he said coolly, stabbing the knife into the desk beside him as he watched the blood seep through the incision on his index finger, pulling at the skin to revel the bone underneath. Shikamaru gagged as he yanked the blade from the desk.

"Don't do that," he groaned. Kuromei ignored him, and he sighed again. The kid was _extremely_ troublesome to look after, but at least he didn't have something sharp anymore. He was relived when Iruka-sensei finally returned with the team listing.

Spotting his assistant holding the bloody knife, he snapped at Kuromei, "Fix whatever you've done to yourself, and pay attention."

With an irritated glare, the boy pinched the skin together as his wound healed itself, leaving a thin scab. He picked at it for a while, then sighed and listened for his name, to find out who he would be stuck with until he moved up.

Teams one through three went by amid excited squeals and disappointed groans as names were called. Iruka was in the middle of calling out team four, when the door creaked open, a tawny-haired girl standing barefoot in the doorway.

"I'm sorry!" the girl mouthed as she slipped inside, looking for a vacant seat. Her vibrant gold eyes flashed as she spotted the row Kuromei sat in, and she headed for the empty seat beside him. "Hi," she whispered. Kuromei scowled at her, and said nothing. She shrugged, apparently undaunted by his rude behavior, and instead watched Iruka, her eyes turning green as she waited to see who she would be teamed with. She ran her hand over the worn forehead protector around her neck, tracing the careful stitches and battered metal plate with the Konoha leaf insignia. It was clearly inherited from someone in her family, possibly a grandparent. Passing on a forehead protector wasn't done often, but some people like to wear the prize possession of the brave-old uncle who was retired or something.

"As I was saying, team four will be Hoshi Panda, Hoshi Ryuji, and Kimura Kouichi." The two Hoshi, evidently twins, slapped hands, grinning excitedly as they looked to see whom the other member of their team was. A pale looking boy with dark hair and navy blue eyes had looked up when the names were called. The girl waved cheerily at him, but he just looked back down at his desk.

"Team five is Joukei Moya, Matsuro Kuromei and Panthara Kaia." The girl, her eyes now gold again, purred quietly, looking excited. Kuromei just sighed; he honestly didn't care who he got paired with. He just hoped that Iruka would give him his knife back before he left, since Nara had passed it to the sensei before leaving.

Kaia looked eagerly around the room, trying to catch the eye of whomever she'd just been paired with. It seemed like the boy next to her was on her team, but she couldn't figure out who else was since nobody had looked up. "Since we have a smaller class than usual, there are only five groups."

At this, the pale boy, Kouichi, glanced at the boy sitting in the row opposite, the one wearing his forehead protector around his head like a bandana. The boy's fists were clenched on the desk as he stared at Iruka. "Although there were seventeen graduates, Aoi had to drop out, so there was a last-minute modification to our list. Team six will be Minamoto Kouji." The boy with the bandana looked confused, but his fists relaxed. Apparently, he felt someone staring at him, but when he turned to look the other's eyes were fixed on the desk once again.  
"And that's everyone. You new senseis will be here to collect you shortly. I wish you all luck," he smiled at his former class, then left, taking the knife with him, Kuromei noted aggravatedly.

The first few jounin arrived shortly after Iruka left, gathering their teams and then leaving for their own special places to begin instructing the new ninja. But teams four, five, and six, if you could really call six a team, were stuck waiting for a jounin.

"I wish they'd get here soon," the Hoshi girl sighed, glancing at the clock. Her twin shrugged, and resumed his attempts at engaging the seemingly shy Kouichi in conversation. Kuromei, bored with waiting, had managed to pull a nail out from his seat and was scratching patterns on his skin. A boy with shoulder length black hair sat unmoving in the back row. Kaia hadn't noticed him before, but she had assumed he was the other person on her team. Since Kuromei was busy pulling school property apart for sharp objects, she had attempted to talk to him. He hadn't looked at her once, and, after confirming that he was Moya, refused to answer any of her questions, or even acknowledge her presence. Feeling somewhat miffed, she had tried to talk to Kouji, since she thought he might be lonely without teammates, but the boy had his head on the desk and was spacing out, ignoring all of her attempts to talk with him. Now feeling slightly depressed, the girl was playing rock-paper-scissors with Panda, neither of them keeping score and both of them watching the clock.

)( - )(

Malao strolled down the hallway, holding a scrap of paper in his hands, lips moving as he read the room numbers to himself. He smiled, remembering his own time at the academy, class clown but it had been fun. And then he got teamed with the class 'babe' and the moody enigma, who happened to be top student. Personally, he'd been amazed that they'd gotten along so well, but they do say that opposites attract. Absently twirling Shikon, his staff and favorite weapon, as he walked, he caught sight of a clock inside one of the classrooms. Uh-oh. He was so late, it couldn't even be called fashionably so anymore. He stopped outside the last room at the end of the corridor.

"Paper covers rock," he heard a girl sigh, accompanied by the impatient _tap tap tapping _of someone's fingernails on a desk.

He grinned, oh they were going to be annoyed with him.

"Hello everyone," he smiled cheerfully at them as he strode into the classroom. Six pairs of eyes focused on him, each clearly hoping that he was there to pick them up. The boy in the back didn't seem to react at all. "You may call me Malao, and I'm team four's sensei." The girl with her fingers curled into a 'rock' and the boy beside her who could only be her twin looked relieved, the boy behind him sat up a little straighter.

The tawny-haired genin who had been playing with the girl twin looked dejected, casting a glance at the boys. Everything was except for the scrape of a nail one of the other genin was fooling with. Malao blinked at her, she looked familiar, something about her eyes? Maybe her profile? He'd think of it later. "However, even though my team is four, I'm here for five and six too. Your jounin are… indisposed," he finally decided, the word's double meaning worked perfectly, since one was sick and the other was loath to have a student. "So, all of you are to come with me." The girls grinned at each other, as they and the others stood up to go. The boy in the back seemed hesitant, carefully standing up and walking slowly towards the group, his fingertips trailing lightly over the desks as he passed them. The boy with the nail was hastily putting it back in its place as he wiped a coating of blood off his arm.

)( - )(

The large group sat in a circle, well, it was almost a circle, in the woods near the training grounds. "Okay, everyone. Now, I know we're not all on the same team, but I want you to get to know each other and start some training exercises anyway. Anyway, we'll just start with names, and you can tell your likes, dislikes, family, hobbies, dreams, and so on. So, who wants to go first?"

Malao's cheerful question was met with silence, and a few blank stares.

"Nobody? Alright then, how about I go first, just to give an example." More silence. "Well, my name is Roiyaru Malao. I'm the middle child in my family, my little sister's name is Hana. I like jokes, both playing them and being on the receiving end. My dream used to be becoming a jounin, but now it's a little different. Okay, how about… you!" Malao pointed at Ryuji, who happened to be sitting next to him. When the boy jumped, slightly surprised to be singled out, the jounin prodded him lightly with Shikon.

"Um, my name is Ryuji, and I have a twin sister. I like stargazing, and, um, practicing with my sis. My dream is to be the most sought-after jounin for high-class missions. My favorite color is blue, and my favorite kind of animal is a dragon. And…that's all," the boy finished, his green eyes fixed on Malao, who nodded and pointed to the girl next to him.

"I'm Panda, I'm his sister in case you couldn't guess. I like pretty much the same things, stargazing and practicing, and I want to have my own genin team someday. Red is my favorite color, and I like pandas," she giggled slightly, breaking the tension around herself.

Malao nodded, and pointed at the next boy.

"Um, my name is Kimura Kouichi. I live with my mother, and, um, I, um," he glanced across at the boy with the bandana again. "Um, that's all." he mumbled.

Malao sighed, but didn't press the boy. He could wring more out of him later if he wanted. Instead, he pointed to the next genin, a boy with white eyes. When they boy didn't respond, the jounin nudged him with his staff again.

"I am Joukei Moya. I don't feel like talking about my dislikes, since there really isn't all that much that I do like. I don't have hobbies, nor do I have any real dreams, that is a word for children and we aren't just children anymore. The better term is determination or a goal, and mine is to prove that I can be a great ninja of Konoha, regardless of my eyesight, or lack thereof." Moya sat with his back ramrod straight, facing directly ahead. His eyes might have been focussed on Malao had he been able to see who was in front of him.

Malao blinked, then pointed to the next child in the circle, the only other girl in the group.

"I'm Panthara Kaia, and my nii-san is a jounin. I like exploring and learning about everything, so I ask lots of questions. My record for consecutive questions asked is forty-seven, but my record for questions actually answered is seventeen. I like playing games like Ninja, and tag, and active stuff like that. I also like practicing and traveling, especially to places I haven't been before. I don't like…shoes," she wiggled her toes as she said this, grinning, then continued, " My dream is to find a…" she paused, then finished quickly, "Be a great konuchi like my mother was." Malao looked her over, then grinned.

"_Panthara_, oh, I should have known!" he burst out laughing, then, shaking his head at their bewildered stares, pointed to the next boy.

"My name is Kuromei. My mother died when I was born, and as far as I am concerned, I have no father. I don't much like people. I do like fighting, and blood; especially my own," he spoke coolly, and didn't react when Malao tried to prompt him to talk more. Giving up on the masochist, the jounin gestured to the last boy in the group.

"My name is Minamoto Kouji. I live with my father and step-mother." When the boy stopped, Malao once again attempted to get him to say more. "My dreams are my business," he said softly.

The jounin sighed, what a bunch of 'wet blankets'. Yuki wasn't going to be exuberant about her team, but Kagemaru wouldn't care if his student didn't talk.

"Well, if that's all, then I guess we should move on to training…but before I forget…" The jounin's hand snapped out, sending a kunai directly at each of the students. Panda and Ryuji leaned towards each other, out of the way. Kaia clapped her forearms together, catching the blade between her armguards, while Moya, whom Malao had been most worried about, easily grasped the handle, stopping it inches in front off his face. Kuoji and Kouichi both ducked, but Kuromei didn't even seem to flinch.

"Okay, if you caught the knife, stand over there. If you dodged it, stand over there." Kaia stood up to walk to where the jounin had indicated first, plucking at Moya's sleeve on her way past him. He brushed her off, but followed to where she stood. Kouichi, Kouji, Ryuji and Panda stood and walked to the other side. Kuromei simply sat where he had been sitting, a savage look in his black eyes. Blood ran down from the blade imbedded in his shoulder.

Malao stared at him.

"Why didn't you move?" he asked incredulously.

"I chose not to," the genin said, licking blood off of his fingers with a feral look on his features.

"You realize that this was a test." The boy nodded, tracing the blade where it had pierced his shoulder; it was almost hilt-deep. "Well, how do you think you did? If this was a combat situation, what do you think would happen?" The boy finally sighed and looked up at the disgusted ninja.

"Nothing." With a _shluck_ he casually pulled the knife out of his arm, pinching the hole closed as he twirled the knife around his fingers. The blood was difficult to see against his black shirt, making it look only wet. "I have a weapon now," he added. Coolly he stood and walked over to where Kaia and Moya stood. Malao sighed, technically the boy _had_ caught the knife, though he didn't envy Yuki this student one iota.

"Alright then, as far as I am concerned, you pass if you're alive, or, if you're dead, at least we know your names."

Panda giggled nervously at these words, then almost jumped out of her skin at the low snarl from behind her. A massive black panther was padding lightly towards them; its fleet paws making no sound as it moved fluidly towards Malao.

"Hello there. What seems to be the problem now?" he asked it, much to the surprise of the Hoshi twins and Koucihi. Kouji and Kuromei both had an 'I really don't care' look about them, and Moya didn't quite seem certain whom the jounin was addressing. The cat snarled again, followed by a varied range of growls, occasionally punctuated with a lash of its tail. "I have no idea what you just said, but somehow I don't think you're pleased."

"He said he doesn't think much of your teaching method," Kaia translated.

"Is that all?" Malao asked. "It seemed to me he said a good deal more than that."

"Um, the rest really doesn't bear repeating," Kaia admitted.

Malao burst out laughing at this, then pointed towards Kouji. "He's the one you want," the jounin told the panther, who turned to fix its dark gold eyes on the boy. Kouji trembled slightly, then managed to look unafraid as the cat padded towards him. The black animal hissed and sprang towards him, slamming heavily into his torso as it tackled him to the ground. The cat then placed a massive paw on his chest, claws pricking him lightly as the beast pressed down. Kouji flinched slightly as it roared in his face. Kouichi looked horrified, and Panda and Ryuji looked as though they wanted to help, but were afraid of making things worse by approaching it.

"Off," Kouji gasped. "Get, OFF!" he repeated more firmly. The animal's chest rumbled slightly, but it let go of him, sitting back on its haunches. The genin stared at it, breathing hard as if his lungs couldn't quite believe that they were still in working order.

The cat was _laughing_ at him? It certainly looked that way, the eyes were definitely filled with a kind of mocking laughter.

"Kage-nii-san, you scared him," Kaia scolded, then threw her arms around the panther's neck. It allowed her to hug it for a moment, then stood, forcing her to let go or fall over. It rumbled something, tail tip twitching. "He says you'll do," she told the dazed Kouji, offering him a hand up.

The rest of the group seemed to shake themselves out of their shock. Malao burst out laughing, again, while Panda and Ryuji rushed to try to help him up, even though Kouji had already lifted himself to his feet, having ignored Kaia's offered hand. Kouichi looked utterly relieved, but he didn't move towards him, standing awkwardly off to one side as he watched. Moya seemed to sigh a little bit, but didn't look as though the ordeal had affected him in any way.

Kuromei had looked almost disappointed, but was now busy pricking holes in his hand with the knife Malao had thrown at him. Yep, Yuki was really going to have her hands full with that one, but Malao wondered what she'd do when she found out that Kagemaru's little sister was on her team.

That would certainly be interesting.

"Alright everyone, party's over. Meet me back here tomorrow afternoon, even those of you who aren't on my team, your sensei will be here tomorrow. The only one of you who may be excused is Kouji, because Kagemaru-" the jounin pointed towards the cat as he spoke, "That's your sensei, yes, that's right, the panther," he added when the boy looked at him as though he was on something, "Anyway, he may have other plans for you…or not," Malao amended when the cat shook its head at him. "Well, until tomorrow then."

After the jounin finished speaking he flickered out of sight. The panther rumbled something and Kaia nodded. Waving goodbye to everyone, she followed him as he walked through the woods towards the village. Moya walked away, whistling quietly as he went; for someone who couldn't see, he did a surprisingly good job of avoiding tree branches and thorn bushes. Panda and Ryuji scampered away to find a place to practice and Kouji simply shrugged and walked off. Kouichi left at the same time the other boy did, but headed in a different direction.

The last one in the meeting field was Kuromei. The genin lounged against a tree, playing with the knife in a way that involved a good deal of blood. He didn't get up as the day passed into night, simply curling up when the moon replaced the sun in the sky. He was a ninja now, and even if it meant sleeping outside every night, and missing a meal here and there, he was never going back to that house. That man no longer had a hold on him, he was his own.


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: Hi again. Just incase I wasn't clear enough the first time…

Disclamer: I do not, in any way shape or form, own Naruto. Nor do I own Kouji and Kouichi. This is purely a fanfic.

Chapter 2, Teammates and Leaders

"Good morning, Yuki-chan. Feeling better?"

"Malao? How the hell did you get in this time?" Yuki blinked sleepily at her friend, raising a silver eyebrow at the state of his normally brown hair. It was covered, as were numerous other parts of him, in a fine back powder. With a groan of incredulity as her muddled mind connected the pieces, she answered her own question. "The chimney?! Mfph, you've tracked soot all though my house! I can't believe you! You had better believe that _I'm_ _not_ cleaning it up," she growled, tossing off the sheets and stretching as she stood up.

"M'kay then, but it looks awfully dirty out here," Malao remarked, looking over his shoulder at the trail of ash with a smirk.

"You're cleaning it up, IDIOT!" Yuki yelled at him, literally kicking him out of her room and slamming the door. Stalking over to her closet, she pulled out her silver tank top and skirt, slipping it on over her blue fishnet shorts and sleeveless shirt. She grabbed her fishnet gloves from her bedside table and wrapped her forehead protector around her arm. Running a brush though her silvery hair, she wrapped it into a loose ponytail to keep it out of her face.

Yawing slightly, she picked up a small pendent threaded onto a pale blue ribbon. A wetness lingered in the corners of her eyes as she lightly traced the silvery insignia. Her mother's necklace. She her lips curved in a small smile as she fastened it securely around her neck. Then, taking a deep breath, she opened the door.

Miraculously, Malao seemed to have found the broom, which actually wasn't too surprising in itself considering how many times he'd needed it. The miracle was more of the fact that he had actually cleaned up most of the soot. Stifling another yawn, she walked over to the small kitchen. It was already occupied by Malao, who was boiling water for tea as though he lived there.

"Malao, _why_ are you in my house again?" she asked groggily.

"Well, I thought you'd need to wake up, considering you need to meet with your team," he said, jubilant as always.

_Damn him and his cheerful-morning-ness. Wait, did he just say…?_

"Oh for the love of…I didn't get my students yesterday!" she voiced an extremely colorful string of words as she ran for the door. Malao grabbed her arm as she passed him.

"It's alright. Calm down, I got them for you. They'll be waiting for us in a few hours at the training field. You know, the one Yohji-sensei used to take us to?" he soothed, guiding his drowsy friend back to her seat. "Eat something," he coaxed, knowing full well that she was often inclined to skip breakfast.

"I'm not hungry," she grumbled, still irritated about the whole team mix-up.

"That's the spirit!" Malao grinned, dumping a plate of toast in front of her, quickly followed by a cup of tea. "I know you don't actually like coffee, but this should wake you up anyway."

Yuki glared at him.

"Did you hear a word I just said?"

"Yup, two actually. You said, 'I'm' and 'hungry'. It'll get cold."

"You have very selective hearing," she grumbled, nibbling on a slice of toast as he laughed.

)( - )(

"Why are you staring at me like that?" Moya snapped at the girl he sensed standing more or less to his right.

"I'm sorry. I was just trying to imagine what it must be like to be…you know…" Kaia trailed off awkwardly.

"Blind? I wouldn't know otherwise now would I?" he said agitatedly.

Kuromei ignored the two of them, cutting and mending his hand under the tree where he had slept the night before.

"Is that why you came to get me this morning?"

"Well, yeah. I just wanted to help, in case you couldn't find it without anyone here. I didn't know Kuromei-kun would be here."

He looked up when she said his name. 'Kun'? That meant she thought they were friends didn't it? Well, he didn't care. She could delude herself all she wanted, it was her problem.

"I _don't_ want your help, and I _don't _need your pity," Moya said angrily, turning his back on the girl. "Next time, you just worry about yourself," he stalked across the clearing, stubbing his foot once on a rock, before sitting near the edge.

He looked as though he might have been meditating, but in actuality he was listening to his surroundings, trying to 'feel' where things were by the life-energy they possessed. People and animals were easiest, plants were harder, but still readable. Unfortunately, nonliving things, such as the rock he'd nearly tripped over, were impossible for him to sense. Yet.

Kaia sighed, having failed utterly in her attempts to become friends with her blind teammate, she turned her attention to the other boy.

"Hi, Kuromei-kun. I would have gotten you too, but I didn't know where you lived," she smiled affably at him as she spoke. He found her exuberance annoying.

"Nobody knows where I live," he finally muttered when she didn't give up after a few minutes of glaring.

"Oh."

He thought his answer might have discouraged her, but after a moment of contemplation, her eyes flashed green and she started asking him questions, mainly revolving about his history, family life, what he used to do, etc, but she also included questions he wouldn't have thought of, such as what his favorite food was, and where he'd want to go if he could go anywhere in the world.

She just kept _talking_. Feeling as though she had surely exceeded the forty-seven-question record by now, he growled.

"Now I have a question for you." She stopped in the middle of a 'what' to listen. "Do you realize how annoying you are?"

Kaia blinked at him, looking surprised.

"I, uh, I guess not. Sorry," she sighed, seeming somewhat downcast. Her eyes turned back to their previous gold, but the hue was more washed-out looking than it had been before. She sat beside Kuromei, looking rather disappointed as both boys ignored the presence of the others. She looked from one to the other, then sighed, feeling slightly bored. She _hated_ being bored, frowning she tried to think of something to do to pass the time until the jounin, or at least someone remotely friendly, arrived.

Sprawling forward on her stomach, Kaia pulled out her 'claws', her own design of weaponry. She had cut a suriken into three segments then threaded them onto a cloth band to strip of material, weaving them into the thin chain within. They were sturdy, strong and comfortable, as long as you weren't on the business end of those points.

Unfortunately only one was finished, but the other would take less time now that she had a better tool to use. Her other 'tool' was what she had used to cut the suriken, but it was hard to use safely with something so small. A scar on her arm was testimony to the power of her hidden 'fangs', made accidentally when her grip slipped, causing the blade to skim lightly along the skin. Luckily her grip had been loose, but even so, it had cut her to the bone, and resulted in a wooden replacement until she learned to draw and duel properly. Her brother had kept her 'fangs' for almost an entire year, much to her disappointment.

Smiling to herself, Kaia pulled the half-finished set from her weapons pouch. She had lined the chain up last night, and all that remained was to attach the pieces and measure it to fit; with nothing else to do while she waited, Kaia seized the opportunity to finish her set. The glint of the blades as she cut into the chain did what her friendly disposition could not.

"What's that?" Kuromei asked, his interest sparked by the unfamiliar weapons.

"My claws," Kaia answered, thrilled to have at least gotten his attention, "Why do you ask?" She was determined to keep it now that she'd finally acquired it.

"They looks different, that's all," he said, striving to remain nonchalant despite his curiosity.

"They should, they're my own invention," she said proudly. Satisfied with the tip she'd been attaching, she moved on to the next. Kuromei watched the blades cutting and melding with the chain as Kaia attached the second tip. When she reached for a third, however, he voiced his opinion.

"It would be more dangerous if you used a long blade, with a hook on the end. It could rip through skin better that way."

"True, but it wouldn't work with three blades, it'd be too awkward," Kaia looked thoughtfully at her almost finished work. "Maybe if I used two though… but it wouldn't work for what I want these to do."

"They aren't meant to 'strip the flesh from the bone of thine enemy' or something like that? Too bad," Kuromei sighed.

Kaia stared at him.

"What are you, some kind of psychopath? You say you like blood and you cut yourself all the time. Now you say that any tool that isn't solely for killing isn't worth the effort?" her tone was still cheerful, conflicting with her slightly negative questioning.

"I never said you had to kill with it," he sulked.

"You're a strange one, psycho-boy," she commented, though she seemed genuinely pleased that her new teammate appeared to be a nut.

Moya, on the other hand, was content to ignore the two and their unusual conversation. Allowing anyone to become close to you was like standing under a trap as you were setting it. It would get you in the end, and you would surely regret it. Friendship was one trap he was never going to be caught in.

"Well, what were you planning on using it for?" Kuromei asked.

"Well, they're really useful for climbing, or if I need to get a good grip on something. I wanted to make a pair, so that I can use them together. That's why they need to be shorter, if they were too long they would get in the way. I do want to use them for fighting too, but it would be kind of inconvenient if I got my hand stuck on someone because the hooks got caught," Kaia said as she finished the last piercing. Wrapping the band around her wrist one last time to be certain, she slashed off the excess material.

"Done!" she purred happily, sliding them both onto her hands and fastening them with her teeth. She held up her hands, pleased with the way her work had come out. Kuromei watched with open interest as she easily cut the scraps of chain into bits.

"How did you cut that?" he finally asked.

"With the claws," she answered, glancing at him. It had been rather apparent, she'd just done it.

"No, I mean how did you cut the weapons," he rolled his eyes as he clarified what he felt should have been an obvious question.

"Oh," Kaia sat back up so she could face him. "I used my fangs to cut the pieces. They're too awkward to use for piercing the chains though. I kept cutting through them by accident. My brother could've done it with his fang, but I wanted to make them on my own."

"Your 'fangs'?" Kuromei asked.

_What, did she rip out a tooth or something?_

From experience, he knew that most teeth did _not_ grow back easily, if at all. With the exception of baby teeth, which were actually supposed to come out and be replaced by bigger, sharper teeth.

"Mm-hmm. But those I can't show you. My brother would take them again if I fool around with them. 'They aren't toys, you need to show respect for your weapons.'" she mimicked.

Kuromei shrugged, apparently loosing interest in the conversation.

_Too bad, it would have been interesting to see what could have sliced through those 'claws' so cleanly. I'll bet it could cut clean through bone too. Now that _would_ be interesting._

Seeing that Kuromei wasn't interested anymore, Kaia scratched the claws in the dirt, making little furrows in the ground. She could probably break them in on a tree or something, but didn't really feel like it. Not right now anyway, maybe if she got bored again later.

Moya moved for the first time since he sat down, his face turning towards his left. A few moments later, the faint crunch of leaves could be heard coming from that direction.

"It's the boy that was teamed with the twins," Moya muttered and returned to his pensive state.

"Hi Kouichi!" Kaia bounded to her feet. "You're early, the jounin haven't gotten here yet," she explained cheerfully.

"Oh, ok," he mumbled, stopping at the edge of the clearing. He just stood there, looking down at his sandals.

"You can hang out with us if you want, it doesn't matter if you're not on our team," Kaia offered. Koucihi looked up, glancing from the grinning Kaia to the moody Kuromei and then at Moya, sitting apart from everyone else.

"Um, no thanks," he spoke even more quietly than before.

Kaia sighed, someone else who didn't want to talk, or do anything.

She tapped her claws together absently, looking around at the group.

Odd, Kouichi seemed different today, less pale. She studied his lightly freckled face for a few moments until he became evidently uncomfortable with her scrutiny. '_Maybe coming early was a bad idea,_' she thought glumly to herself as she looked back down at her hands. It wasn't much fun sitting in silence.

After what seemed like forever, but was in reality only a few minutes, Yuki and Malao arrived at the clearing.

"Brings back memories, don't it?" Malao grinned, nudging Yuki with his elbow as he spoke.

"Yes," she muttered, "You know, I'd actually managed to forget some of them."

"The time you fell out of the tree was so funny! You landed in that giant mud puddle, remember? And then you sank, and we all had to pull you out, you looked like a mud-monster!" Malao chuckled to himself at the thought. Yuki looked irritated.

"Thanks for the reminder," she said dryly. She stopped dead when she caught sight of the genin waiting for them. "Malao, what time did you tell them to get here?" she yelled, whirling on him. "Honestly, I can't _believe_ that you'd actually forget about your students after just one day!"

"I didn't forget," he protested, holding his hands up defensively. "They're just early." Yuki glared at him for a moment more, then sighed, shaking her head as she turned to face the group.

"Alright, I'm Kitsune Yuki, and I'm team five's sensei. I couldn't make it yesterday, so today we'll make up for it," she said, looking at the four of them.

"Which ones are mine?" she asked Malao in an undertone.

Moya sighed. Hopefully, she wasn't _really_ irresponsible.

"Kaia, Kuromei, and Moya, you go with Yuki," Malao told them.

Kaia bounded eagerly to her feet, as Kuromei shuffled behind her. Moya stood up slowly and walked carefully towards the new person.

"Alright, team, follow me." Yuki gestured at them to come and started walking away. Malao flashed her a thumbs-up as she passed, and she half smiled back. Kouichi looked nervously at Malao as the others left.

"I've got a surprise for you guys. We'll just wait for the others to come first…oh! Kaia, did your brother say anything before you left this morning?" he called at the girl's retreating back. She stopped and, turning, she called back to him.

"He had to go see the Hokage, but he said he'd take his student for today, and then tell him to join our group until he gets back from his mission," she told the jounin rapidly before catching up to her group again, dodging Kouji on her way out.

The boy scowled at her as she passed, '_annoying jabber-jaws_.' He strode into the clearing, barely acknowledging Malao's presence, his gaze traveling indifferently over the other genin. He crossed his arms as he waited impatiently for the arrival of his teacher. Kouichi watched him timidly, looking away quickly when the other boy glanced back at him.

Right on time, the Hoshi twins scampered into the clearing, laughing at each other about something or other.

"Good morning!" Panda said sunnily.

"It's afternoon, silly," her brother told her, resulting in another fit of giggles on her part.

"All right, now that we're all here, here's the surprise," the twins looked eagerly at Malao as they waited to find out what was going on. "We have our first mission today-"

The jounin was cut off by an excited squeal. He shrugged slightly, unoffended by the interruption. "Nice enthusiasm, but it isn't that kind of a mission."

Panda shrugged, it didn't matter to her what kind of a mission it was, just having one was exciting. Ryuji obviously agreed with his sister, but Kouichi seemed uncertain again.

"Kouji, Kagemaru-kun will be here later, he's at a meeting right now," Malao told the brooding genin, who shrugged carelessly and leaned back against the tree.

"Well, come on everyone," the jounin looked as though he was trying to heard his group out of the clearing. "He'll be here soon," he called over his shoulder to the boy again as he and his team faded from view.

Kouji looked irritably around at the empty space, impatient to get started.

A/N: Hi again...er...again The next few chapters will be about what the different groups are doing. I thought it would be less confusing to separate them from each other. So the next few chapters might be rather short, but they'll (hopefully) be updated faster than this one was.


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I do not, in any way shape or form, own Naruto. Nor do I own Kouji or Kouichi, who belong to Digimon, which I do not own either.

A/N: Hey, I know I said I'd be faster with this chapter and I know I kinda wasn't. Sorry about that. The next one shouldn't take as long to post, and this time I _really_ mean it.

Also I feel that (due to the rather extensive period of time since my last update) I should mention that I have divided the three teams into separate chapters, so that's why only a few characters are in this one. Um, anyway, enough talking, and on with the story! (Team Five is getting bored with waiting and you do NOT want to know what happens when certain members of this team get bored. Really. You don't. Trust me. What's that? Shut up and get on with it already? …Okay…)

Team Five, Training Session 1

Kaia skipped along behind her new sensei, exuberant as always at the prospect of something new. At the moment, though, she was waiting for Yuki to realize who she was. The jounin had been her brother's friend for a long time, and it would certainly be interesting to see how long it took her to remember that Kaia was his baby sister. What would be even more interesting might be her reaction when she found out. But, there was no point in spoiling the surprise.

Kaia giggled quietly to herself, earning an annoyed glare from Kuromei. She grinned at him and, with a snort of irritation, he turned his back on her again. He sure acted indifferent, but she knew better. His weak point was weaponry, and it seemed that, in that area at least, he was just as curious as she was. Moya on the other hand…

Kaia watched his back as he walked. He was following closely behind their sensei, putting his feet almost exactly where she put hers. Was that how he did it? How he walked without stumbling or faltering, how he made it seem that he could see after all? Her eyes gleamed green, she would figure him out yet! Then she would know about everyone on her team. But…

Kaia looked down at her bare feet. But wouldn't it be better to just know them? It would be nice to have real friends. Just like it would be nice to have a real family. Not that there was anything wrong with her brother, except that he was…

"Here we are." Yuki's announcement brought her from her thoughts.

Looking up, Kaia suppressed a groan. 'Here' was a river. They were training with _water_? Kuromei looked indifferently around the small body of water. Moya frowned slightly, his head turning slowly as though he was scanning the clearing, which he was, just not with his eyes.

"So." Yuki clapped her hands together as she faced the group. "You're probably all wondering why we're here."

Just as with Malao the day before, her comment was greeted with silence. Kuromei wasn't really paying attention to her, and Moya was simply waiting for her to finish what she was saying. Kaia was watching the sluggish river apprehensively; they weren't going to go swimming, were they?

'_And Malao says _I'm _off in the morning,'_ Yuki thought resignedly. She cleared her throat.

"Well, we're going to be learning to focus chakra. Does anyone know what that is?"

Kuromei glared at her incredulously. How old did she think they were?

"The chakras are the energies that flow throughout the body. With the correct instruction, they can be utilized in a variety of ways, the foremost being the performance of the numerous jutsus used by ninja," Moya answered, sounding very much as though he had eaten a textbook for breakfast, or at least a thesaurus.

"Ah, very good," Yuki seemed mildly surprised by his response. "So, since everyone knows what the chakras are, we can move on." Yuki strode to the water's edge before turning back to the group. "Now, what I want you to do is focus chakra to your feet. It's like performing a jutsu, as…erm…"

"Moya," the boy told her when she fumbled for his name.

"Right, as Moya so efficiently described it. Now, once you feel you have focused enough energy to the soles of your feet, you can test your proficiency by doing this." The jounin turned and stepped out onto the sluggish current. She walked out _on top of_ _the water_ towards the center of the river and turned back to them.

"There are two ways to do this incorrectly. One way is to focus too little chakra, in which case you'll sink. The other is focusing too much, which causes tension on the surface and can either make it too slippery to stand or create waves in the water. Both of these results make it difficult to stay on the surface of the water and you will eventually fall in," she walked back to shore. "Any questions?"

"How do you know if you're doing it right?" Kaia asked, still looking at the river as if it might suddenly attack her.

"I've been told it feels different for each person. You'll know you've got it when you can stay dry."

Kaia sighed; it wasn't a particularly helpful explanation. Yuki looked at her thoughtfully, her brow furrowed. Then, with a slight smile, the jounin shifted her gaze to the rest of the small group.

"So, who wants to go first?"

Moya's sightless eyes flicked in the direction of their sensei's voice. Without hesitating, the boy walked down the shore and stepped onto the river. Here he paused, one foot precariously on the surface of the sluggish water. Then, determinately, he lifted the other foot, placing it just beyond the first. Small ripples curled around his toes, he could hear the slight change in the water's current. Feeling much more confident, he took three more steps and…sank.

When he felt the water reach his ankles, the youth sprang backwards, landing easily on the shore. He looked thoughtful, contemplating his newfound knowledge as he prepared to try again.

"Alright, that was pretty good, for a first attempt," Yuki told the genin. "How about you next, miss kitty," the jounin said teasingly. The girl grinned, Yuki had caught on much sooner than Malao-sensei had. It was probably because the jounin had occasionally stopped by, the first year after her brother left, just to check on her. But, she stopped coming after a while. Of course, the fault was mainly Kaia's, she hadn't wanted to interact anybody for the longest time after Kagemaru left.

Kaia stared down at her feet, trying to figure out how to know whether she was doing it properly or not.

They felt warm, was that right? Or…maybe it was just the sun on the sand. She frowned, how about now? They itched…kinda. Or, it could be the sand again. Yuki was right, there was only one way to know for sure. The girl looked resolutely up at the water, then, gritting her teeth started for the river.

Feeling herself wavering, the girl decided it would be best to try it at a run, so she wouldn't have as much time to think about it. She ran down the riverbank, and onto the water. Her momentum carried her almost to where Yuki had stopped before the water exploded under her feet. With a sharp squeal of surprise and dismay, the girl tumbled into the water. Sputtering, she surfaced and swam rapidly towards the bank, where she stood, very sodden and notably sulky.   
"Good attempt, but maybe less would be better in your case," Yuki said, managing not to laugh at the girl's wet-cat antics.

Kaia scowled and shook herself, spraying water in all directions. Then, with her hair and clothing still plastered to her body, she stalked past the group to sit on the sun-warmed grass. Once comfortably seated, she proceeded to experiment with the flow of chakra through her feet, testing the stickiness with blades of grass and pebbles close at hand.

Finally allowing herself a light chuckle of amusement, the jounin turned to the last student.

"Alright, Kuromei?" she asked. When he conceded to nod, she continued, "It's your turn, let's see what you can do."

The boy scowled slightly, but walked down to the sluggish water, compliant for the moment. He stooped for a moment, running his fingertips lightly over his feet. The power tingled as he transferred it to his feet. Straightening up, the boy strode out onto the river. He walked to the middle then turned and started back to the group, a cocky smirk just curving his mouth until his foot dipped below the surface. His expression changed rapidly to one of surprise and almost immediately the surface of the water near his feet flashed an extremely dark reddish-brown, then turned as smooth as glass as he jerked his foot forward, out of the water, and onto, what he clearly thought was, a more stable area. His foot flew out from under him, and with a resounding _smack_, he fell flat on his back in the water. He floated there for a moment, the wind knocked out of him. Then, rolling over, he swam back to the shore.

"Alright, not bad. You overcorrected yourself. Moya, you should try again now, and Kaia you're after him," Yuki instructed, glancing back at the sodden girl. Kaia scowled, but nodded obediently. Kuromei snorted, squeezing the water out of his shirt, his scarred back bright red where he had hit the surface. The liquid streamed down his arms, drops spattering the sand as he shook the shirt out before putting the still-damp garment back on.

Moya had walked back down to the riverside when Yuki told him to go again. Judging from the results of over-doing the amount of chakra as opposed to his own experience with too little, the boy decided to add only a small amount to the quantity he had used on his previous attempt.

_Sinking a little bit is far better than falling in_.

The power swirled to the soles of his feet as he stepped out onto the water, just as cautiously as he had the first time.

He took three steps...

After a brief pause, he took three more.

He stood there for a moment, three more steps and he might not be able to get back to shore in one jump.

But, still…

The blind youth walked further out onto the river, not hesitating again until he felt the sand of the other bank beneath his sandals. It looked like it didn't matter if he could jump back to shore. Feeling pleased with himself, he turned and walked easily back across the water to where his team was watching him.

"Excellent," Yuki told him. "You can keep practicing if you wish, but I think you've got it."

Moya nodded, proceeding to walk further upstream, where the attempts of his teammates wouldn't interfere with his practice.

"Kaia, you're up again."

The girl sighed, but, as her brother had instructed her, she obeyed her sensei, walking, albeit reluctantly, to the water's edge. She stood there, watching the water with the same apprehension she had the last time as she tried to focus. When her feet felt hot, she stepped out, testing her weight cautiously...

Like Kuromei's had moments before, her foot shot out from under her, landing her flat on her back, though this time she managed to fall mostly on the shore. Climbing to her feet, the girl discovered that, even though she hadn't gotten much wetter, she was now coated with sand.

Scowling, she attempted to brush the grit off herself as Kuromei held his hands against his feet in preparation for his next try. Slowly, the youth walked out over the water. Halfway across the river, he slipped and, once again, overdid his attempts to recover. Thoroughly soaked and frustrated, he swam back to shore again as an extremely adverse Kaia started out once more.

…

"Alright you two, I think that's enough for one day," Yuki announced, glancing at sun's position.

"I thought it was enough two hours ago…" Kiaia muttered, squeezing water out of her hair from her umpteenth fall. Kuromei snorted, his feet squelching as he made his way sullenly up the bank. Moya stepped lightly off the water, the only one, aside from Yuki, who wasn't soaked, or even particularly damp.

"Oh stop whining, it wasn't so bad. You'll get better," Yuki told them.

"Could I actually get worse?" Kaia muttered to herself, her usual cheerful disposition thoroughly dampened to a soggy bad mood.

Hearing his teammate's derogatory comment, Moya snorted quietly, but refrained from saying anything. Honestly, it wasn't as difficult as the two of them made it out to be…

"I'll see you three here again tomorrow morning," the jounin called after her team as she flickered expertly out of sight.

Hearing this, Kaia groaned, then sneezed abruptly, beginning to shiver in the cool evening air.

_Great…_

A/N: The black lines you see, if they aren't just figments of my rapidly-going mind, serve no purpose whatsoever, beyond depriving me of what sanity I still possess as I attempt (repeatedly!) to get rid of them.

So, um, anyway… The next chapter features Team Four and their mission and will be updated soon


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: I do not, in any way shape or form, own Naruto. Nor do I own Kouji or Kouichi, who belong to Digimon, which I do not own either.

A/N: I did say it would be uploaded quicker this time, and I did it. Yay! And yes, I know that it is, like the last, a tad on the short side. The next is probably gonna be _really_ short, but I'll post it up really fast to make up for it.

Oh, and about those black lines… they don't show up online. So I win, hahaha! Erm, yeah… cough. Stupid lines…

And, um, right, you wanted to read the story, not some long author's note like last time so…

Team Four, Mission 1

"Alright, this is the location of your very first mission!" Malao chuckled slightly at the dumbfounded look on Panda's face.

"Laundry? We're doing _laundry_ on our first mission?" Ryuji asked in disbelief, his voice echoing his sister's look.

"But I do that at _home_. Is this really the mission?" she asked.

"Yup. My first mission was cleaning out the stables, so count yourselves lucky." Malao laughed, remembering Kagemaru's death-glare when he'd knocked him in the back of the head with his shovel, before the catlike individual had become unerringly elusive. Fortunately, Yohji-sensei had been there, or Malao probably wouldn't be here.

"Oh, well, if this really is the mission, let's go!" Panda's enthusiasm was back, now that she was sure that it wasn't a joke that their jovial sensei was playing. Ryuji nodded, rolling up his sleeves as he followed his sister into the laundry room. Kouichi trailed in after them, Malao closing the door behind him.

"Okay now you three. Since this is your first mission, you guys try to do it on your own. If you need help though, just ask." Malao chuckled again as he perched on a stool by the door to watch.

"Okay, I do this all the time at our house. The white stuff and the colored things can't go together, so we should sort them first. Oh, and really delicate things go separate too." Panda explained to the boys, who nodded and went to work sorting the piles.

"Not that I'm complaining or anything, but how come there's so much of it? Do these people change every half-hour or something?" Ryuji asked from inside one of the baskets as he fished out yet another sock from the bottom, tossing it to the growing heap of whites. Malao shrugged, still smiling. At least his team was working together well.

"Um, I finished my baskets." Kouichi stammered.

"Wow, you're fast!" Panda exclaimed, looking up.

"It's just, I got, um, mostly white," he stuttered. Panda looked at his pile, then at her own and her brother's piles.

"I'd say we have enough to start putting them in. Kouichi, you do the white stuff in that one, Ryuji and I can use these for the colored things, since there are more of those anyway," Panda sighed as she hefted the detergent. "Aww man, it's too light, we're gonna run out."

"Couldn't we just use this one?" Ryuji asked, reaching for another bottle.

"No! That's bleach, you only put that in with white! Honestly, don't you know anything?" she teased.

"Laundry is _your_ job," her brother replied. Panda shook her head in mock despair.

Kouichi didn't join in their banter, simply continuing to work instead. He filled the washing machine with the white clothes from his pile as the girl tried to explain to her brother how it was done.

"You just put a little detergent in here, and then turn the knob to the cycle you want," Panda was explaining, "NO! You have to close the door _first_! _Honestly_."

"_What_? Guys don't do laundry," Ryuji said defensively.

"Kouichi knows what he's doing."

The boy stopped and looked up when he heard his name. Seeing that she wasn't talking to him, he loosely screwed the top back on the bleach, placing it on top of the machine. Panda was demonstrating how it was done for her brother's benefit, emptying the last of the detergent into the other washing machines.

"That's it," she sighed, "we're out." Malao bounded nimbly to his feet.

"I'll go and get some more then. You kiddies keep up the good work!" With a jaunty wave, the jounin left to accomplish his own side mission, leaving his team to sort laundry again. Unfortunately, Panda and Ryuji seemed to have difficulty focusing for very long, resulting in a full-fledged sock-war. Kouchi managed to avoid involvement until Panda used him as a human shield.

"H-hey!" he stammered as socks pelted him. Panda, giggling madly, scooped up a few to throw back at her brother in retaliation. Backed up against the washing machines, he could only duck to escape the deadly barrage, deflecting what he could and taking the rest. The game might have continued longer, except one of the averted missiles had gotten stuck on a shelf behind the machines as the cycle ended.

"Oops," Panda giggled again. It seemed to be her reaction to most things. "I'll get it down. You guys start taking the clothes out, they go outside on the line," the girl told her teammates as she climbed up. She walked across the top of the machines, reaching up on tiptoe to get the sock down. As she stepped back after retrieving the sock, she inadvertently backed into the bottle of bleach, knocking it off the washer.

A startled yelp came from below.

"Kouichi! Are you okay, I'm really sorry!" Panda gasped as she sprang back down, sock in hand. The boy was half in, half out of the washer, he had apparently been reaching for something in the back when it had fallen. The bleach dripped off his hair and ran down the back of his shirt as he stood, stiff with surprise. "Don't move, it's really, _really_ bad if it gets in your eyes!" Panda told him, as Ryuji passed her a white towel out of one of the piles. She grabbed it and tried to dry his back with it, apologizing all the while. Kouichi said nothing, his face scrunched up against the drops of bleach trickling along his jaw.

"What in the world…" Malao stood framed in the doorway, the bottle of detergent held loosely in his hand as he stared at the scene before him.

"I spilled bleach on Kouichi on accident, and now I can't get it off!" Panda blurted. Having given up on the shirt, which was beyond saving, she was trying to get the liquid out of the boy's dark hair. She squeezed a fistful of hair in the towel, causing the boy to make a small objecting sound as his hair was pulled. "Sorry!"

"Here, let me," Malao tossed the detergent to Ryuji as he picked up another towel to help Panda get the bleach off of Kouichi. Panda backed off when her sensei put his hand on her shoulder.

"Alright, Kouichi, you need to come out of the washing machine. Keep your eyes shut though, and watch your head." Kouichi carefully backed up. With one last swipe, Malao wiped the last of the bleach off of his student's face. "There, it's off."

"Oh no! Kouichi, your hair! And your shirt and, OH NO! His freckles are gone!" Panda gasped. "I'm so, so sorry, I didn't mean to! It was an accident, honest, I wouldn't do something like this on purpose! I'm sorry!"

"Um, it's okay," the boy stammered, at a loss for dealing with what seemed to him to be hysterics.

Malao frowned slightly. _He has freckles? I don't remember that…well I was preoccupied yesterday, maybe I just didn't notice._

"N-no, really, it's okay… my hair will grow out and, um, I do have other clothes…" Kouichi was saying nervously.

"That has got to be the most I've ever heard you say," Ryuji grinned. Panda flicked another sock at him, hitting the side of his head. "Hey!"

"I really am sorry though, if there's anything I can do…" she trailed off, her green eyes focused on Kouichi's face, his dark blue eyes the only real patch of color left.

"It's fine," Kouichi said quickly, relived that she was acting normal, or at least, normal for her.

Malao looked around at his team, an apologetic Panda was standing beside her twin on one side while Kouichi stood slightly apart from them, looking awkward. It wasn't very noticeable, but it was clear to him that they were divided. The jounin thought he knew why too. The twins were an inseparable pair, and, though the two weren't deliberately excluding him, Kouichi was too shy to bridge the invisible gap himself. Well, that was all right. He'd cross it, one way or another. Malao didn't understand people who were shy at all. Kouichi was going to come out from his shell, whether he liked it or not. The jounin cleared his throat.

"Alright, you two finish up in here, and _please_ keep the fooling around to a minimum. At least until I can get back. Kouichi, come on, we're going to get you cleaned up." Malao took the boy's shoulder and pulled him along, despite the youth's stammered protests that he was ok, and could finish the mission.

"See you later Kouichi!" Panda waved at him before picking up the bottle of bleach. "Aww man, this one's almost empty now too," was the last thing he heard her say before the door swung shut.

"Um, it-it's really okay…" he mumbled.

"You should still wash up, I can't send you home looking like this."

Kouichi ducked his head, and said nothing as he allowed himself to be led up the street.

"Here we are. Lucky for you, I live on this road," Malao said, opening the door to a smallish apartment. "Don't mind the mess."

Kouichi trailed obediently inside after him, looking around the small room. A table stood in one corner, near the counter. A sink filled with dirty dishes was between the oven and shabby refrigerator. There was a bed tucked away on the other side, it looked as though it hadn't been made for months. A number of items were strewn randomly about the floor, and the closet door looked as though opening it would be the last thing you ever did.

"There's a shower through the door over there," the jounin offered, throwing some of the clothes lying about into an empty hamper. "You should probably rinse that shirt out too, though I don't think it will ever be red again."

"W-what?" Koichi looked startled, glancing apprehensively at the door Malao had indicated.

The jounin looked puzzled for a moment, then snorted, shaking his head.

"I don't bite you know," Malao told him, stacking the dishes on the counter to make room in the sink. "Come here," he said, running the water until it felt warm. "Just stick your head under the tap for a while, maybe we can get your hair black again."

Hesitantly, Kouichi did as he was told, the warm water running down his neck and face.

"Here, dry off with this," Malao instructed, laying a clean towel on the counter beside his student. Kouichi straightened up, turning off the water as he rubbed the towel over his head. "We need to wash your shirt too, otherwise the bleach will eat a hole in it."

"Um…okay," Kouichi finally agreed. He pulled off the shirt he'd been wearing, sighing slightly at it's coloring. Not that there was anything wrong with pink, but he'd liked it better red. Malao took the shirt from him, rinsing and wringing it out until he was satisfied.

"You've probably guessed that this kind of stuff happens to me a lot," the man joked. Kouichi shrugged, feeling slightly chilled in his damp fishnet. "You want to borrow one of my shirts?"

"No," Kouichi mumbled. Malao shrugged, if that was what he wanted then that was fine. He'd definitely had enough for one day anyway.

"Here. You can dry it at your house, you're less likely to lose it I'm sure," the jounin passed the shirt back to its owner, then dumped the dishes back into the sink again. "You can go home now, if you want. I think you've had enough, and the others are probably done by now."

"Um, okay," Kouichi said softly. Passing the towel back to the jounin, the boy took his shirt and left. He walked home quickly, hoping to get everything straightened out before his mother got back from work.

Malao dumped the towel in the hamper with the other clothes before heading back to where Panda and Ryuji were waiting.

"We're done!" Panda announced when the door opened. "Huh? Where's Kouichi?" she asked, seeing that Malao was alone.

"I told him to just go home, I figured that if you two were done, then he wouldn't need to be here, and if another world war had been started, well, I'd say he's already had his disaster for the day," Malao chuckled lightly.

"He is okay, right?"

"A little paler than before, but he's fine. A few hours of sun should bring his freckles back too, although he'll have white hair for a while. Now, if we all take two baskets, I'd say we could finish brining all this back upstairs in one trip," Malao said affably, grabbing two of the baskets for himself as the twins each took theirs. "Ah, Panda, maybe just one," he suggested, watching her struggle to balance two on her hip. She giggled, but did as he asked, running back down to the laundry room for it after dropping off her first basket.

"Okay, good job you two. We had some problems, but it was only the first mission. We'll get better when you start to get to know each other. Anyway, same place same time tomorrow." The twins grinned and nodded, excited to have completed their very first mission, such as it was.


	5. Chapter 5

A/N: I'm so sorry! I forgot to update the chapter, I can't believe I did something this stupid! whaps head on keyboard

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto in any way shape or form (but wouldn't it be cool if I did?) nor do I own Kouji or Kouichi, who belong to the creators of Digimon.

Team Six, Lesson 1

Kouji looked moodily around the now empty clearing. The other teams had each gone off with their sensei _ages_ ago, and his wasn't even here yet.

"He could've least had the decency to be on time," the boy muttered.

"And you could have the decency to respect your senpai," a low voice came from directly behind him.

Kouji jumped slightly, looking around to see who had spoken. A powerfully built man stood just behind the tree that he'd been leaning on, his gold eyes darkening with disapproval. Kouji glowered at him.

"Your name is Kouji, correct?" the man continued.

He nodded, watching him suspiciously. This was his sensei?

"Alright then, Minamoto, tell me what you know about chakra," the man crossed his arms, watching the boy with the same intense gaze that the panther had the day before.

"Chakra is the energy within the body. Ninja harness this energy to perform their techniques, focusing it through hand signs. Everyone at the academy knows that, and if not they should," Kouji said flatly, glaring right back at the dark young man, his navy blue eyes fixed on the man's golden ones.

"Well, at least you're not a complete idiot."

Kouji's scowl deepened.

The man was unimpressed, his eyes turning several shades darker as he continued, "I have been assigned a mission. You can't come. While I am gone, you will join Yuki's team for training. You will also make-up a jutsu of your own, which I will grade when I return. You will not copy any jutsu that already exists, nor will you ask anyone for help. I should be back in about three days, a week at the latest. If you do not meet with my approval, you will be sent back to the academy."

"We've already been passed," the boy muttered darkly.

"I do not care what Malao said. I am your sensei, and your blatant disrespect is not going to improve my opinion of you. I do not care if you like me, I am _not_ your peer nor am I your friend. However; you will demonstrate the proper amount of respect necessary for your instructor. I can and will have you sent back to the academy if you are not able to meet my standards. Have I made myself clear?" Kagemaru asked, his voice soft and dangerous as his now-black eyes bored into Kouji's.

"I got it," the boy muttered, looking away. Kagemaru watched him sulk for a moment.

"You will also write a report on the use and properties of chakra," he told the boy.

Kouji stiffened, but he managed to restrain himself from saying anything else. Kagemaru watched him in silence, then left as swiftly and as silently as he had arrived. He was almost through the village gate before Kouji looked up again.

He glowered, uttering a few choice words to describe his new sensei and his opinion of the man. A written report? What was this, kindergarten? And all the 'you may not's and 'you wills' _really_ got under his skin.

It was a very good thing the jounin didn't care about the genin's opinion of him.

A/N: Sorry, I know it's _really_ short, I was hoping to follow along with the other chapter much more quickly, but I've got writer's block on the next chapter, so it'll take even longer now. . 


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